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In the 1930 New South Wales elections Jack Lang was returned overwhelmingly as Premier of New South Wales. His very first government (1925-1927) had introduced complete systems of widow's pensions, kid endowment, and worker's compensation his second government pledged itself to keep these hard-won gains and steer the state out of the Depression.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnKcRXNN-xY



Saturday, 19 March 1932, the day of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one particular of the most important occasions in the history of the city of Sydney. The public mood, even so, was apprehensive much more than it was festive. As one particular senior journalist later reflected, ‘the city was jumpy, jumpy as I've never known it since'. De Groot vowed that Premier Jack Lang would not open the Bridge. The police and security authorities have been concerned that the New Guard may well kidnap the Premier, and stage a coup d'état. The Police have been tense, watching for any strategy of an angry mob.